UAE firm launches world’s first colour solar glass generating energy

In a step that is set to revolutionize glass technology across the globe, Dubai Investments today announced the launch of the first-of-its-kind coloured solar glass in the world which generates energy on its own.

The launch of the new technology coincided with the announcement of a new entity – Emirates Insolaire, entrusted to introduce the breakthrough concept across the world. Emirates Insolaire is part of Glass, the glass pioneers in the Middle East and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dubai Investments.

Emirates Insolaire is a joint venture using KromatixTM technology of SwissINSO SA, a Switzerland-based pioneer in the development and application of new solar technologies and products. The company will produce the solar glass at the Emirates Glass manufacturing facility in the UAE, which has been modified to adapt the new technology.

The breakthrough glass, developed in close collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [EPFL – Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne], comes in virtually any colour. Optimised for both photovoltaic modules – which use cells to convert solar radiation into electricity – and solar thermal collectors, the glass provides a mat coloured, architecturally aesthetic appearance to solar panels, preserving more than 90% of efficiency.

Emirates Insolaire is targeting 10% of the global solar glass market within a short period. Over a billion square meters of solar glass – both photovoltaic and thermal – would be installed across the world by 2015, industry estimates reveal.

The solar glass generates electric power, has an aesthetic look and is highly sustainable. On one side, no material used in the technology causes any potential harm to the environment while on the other side it allows all buildings to help sustainability by offering their façades and roofs for green energy production.

Each colored solar panel with KromatixTM technology can generate above 130 watts electric power per square meter on roofs or above 100 watts per square meter on façades. Approximately 2,000 panels on one building are capable of generating 200KW electric power.

Khalid Bin Kalban, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Investments, said: “We are thrilled with the launch of this revolutionary solar glass technology here, which could literally transform the manner in which we use solar energy for our homes, offices as well as the commercial buildings. This is a significant paradigm shift in solar glass technology, and we see significant growth opportunities going forward as we accelerate market penetration.”

He added: “Kromatix is a first-of-its-kind business model not only in the region, but across the entire world. The technology is highly sustainable and is a major innovation for potential application in commercial and residential projects across the region – blessed with natural sunshine all year round. The solar glass will be launched in two phases – the phase one would involve glass adapted with the new technology while the second phase would encompass the manufacturing of the entire architectural panels. This launch is part of our commitment to adopting the latest technological innovation and making us the pioneers in the glass industry.”

The coloured solar glass technology has already generated a lot of interest in the sector, with clients across several markets including Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, USA, Brazil, India, Singapore, Dominican Republic, among others, lined up to receive and certify their panels with the new technology from the manufacturing unit in the UAE.

The photovoltaic market, in particular, has achieved exponential growth globally over the years. The market was 40 GW (Gigawatts) in 2010, representing 200 million square meters of glass, and has grown 40% year-on-year. The number of installations foreseen for 2015 is 160 GW – approximately 800 million square meters of glass. The thermal solar glass market was 183 million square meters in 2006, and has been growing by 12% year-on-year since then. The faster growth pace today as well as for the future, is the photovoltaic integration on buildings.

The share of BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) for roofs and facades, one of the specialisations of Emirates Insolaire, is also witnessing rapid growth. It was 5% few years ago, and in the near future it is expected that the solar installations on roofs and facades will represent 60% of the total solar market.

Rafic Hanbali, Chairman and CEO of SwissINSO, said: “We are happy to work with Dubai Investments for the production of the coloured solar glass with KromatixTM technology. This launch provides us with a significant first-mover advantage, a one-stop complete process, especially considering that the market potential for coloured solar panel is huge. The coloured solar glass technology is expected to become the norm and standards in the construction industry over the next three to five years, particularly when considering the present and expected growth of solar integration into buildings. These buildings, by will or by law, will have to become energetically independent and KromatixTM is the only road available today for this integration”.

Dubai Investments plans $300m sukuk

Dubai Investments aims to raise $300 million from a debut sale of Islamic bonds by the end of 2013 after delaying a similar plan early this year due to rising interest rates, its chief executive said.

The conglomerate, which has interests in several sectors including property and manufacturing, had in April picked Citigroup, Nomura and JP Morgan Chase & Co to help arrange the sale.

"We are in the final stage of application to the various markets. I'm hoping that it should be done this year," Khalid bin Kalban told reporters on Monday.

"This (sukuk sale) is delayed because interest rates climbed up. We are targetting a specific interest rate. Once we achieve it we will go into the market, otherwise there's no point. It has come down to lower than the level we expected."

The company has been eyeing a sukuk issue since last year to finance expansion of some manufacturing units and repay debt.

Source: http://www.emirates247.com/business/energy/uae-firm-launches-world-s-first-colour-solar-glass-generating-energy-2013-11-18-1.528461#!

Solar Sector Shines on Energy Storage

Last month I was a keynote speaker at the Renewable Energy and Mining Summit in Toronto. Given the quality and quantity of mining executives in attendance, I expected the mining industry with its heavy reliance on the remote delivery of a tremendous amount of power, was educated on renewable energy generation and energy storage. I was mistaken. While the mining industry is moving forward with alternative energy generation, it isn’t very educated on energy storage. But the good news is the EPCs and photovoltaic (PV) developers servicing the mining industry clearly “get it” and swamped the American Vanadium booth after my presentation.

This recent experience clearly supports what we have been seeing elsewhere — that to successfully compete, every solar developer must have an energy storage option in their sales tool-kit. A recent report by Lux Research stated that they expect the “coupled solar and energy storage market to grow to $2.8 billion in 2018.” Most notable about this is that the expectation is that energy storage is NOT a driver for increased PV penetration as that is happening on its own. What is most remarkable is that the PV penetration IS a driver for increased use of energy storage.

IMS Research reports that the market for solar-generated energy storage will climb from approximately $200 million last year to $19 billion by 2017. It is widely acknowledged, however, that the intermittency of solar energy makes it unreliable as a primary source of power. Yet, the penetration of the PV on the grid continues to increase, multiplying the challenges.

This all is a result of conscious decisions — not simply choices to generate energy from renewable sources — but decisions to eliminate some current sources of energy generation. The States of New York and California, two of the biggest energy consumers in the world, are working to take their nuclear plants off line and to reduce/eliminate energy generation from coal and oil. This monumental shift requires a significant amount of renewable energy generation — which in turn requires tremendous amounts of energy storage to deliver the 24/7 reliability demanded of the utilities and their customers.

“As solar deployment increases, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade association for the solar energy industry, is focused on accelerating renewable energy generation without sacrificing reliability,” writes Rhone Resch, President and CEO, SEIA. “Energy professionals, business leaders, policymakers — and the public — view storage as a crucial technology that complements solar. Advancing energy storage is vital to our mission of ensuring that renewables become an increasingly mainstream source of our world’s power supply. Solar professionals are excited about tremendous innovations in this realm.”

Long duration and intelligent energy storage solves the intermittency challenges of PV by absorbing the excess generation and dispatching it when required. With the right technology, solar energy can be stored during the middle of the day and shifted for use whenever it is needed. In remote microgrid and island grid systems, PV energy generation combined with energy storage can become the primary source of power, relegating diesel generators to a back-up role and resulting in an energy ecosystem that is more reliable, sustainable and affordable. Vanadium flow batteries can recharge electric vehicles, store wind and solar power for electric power grids, and set up micro grids where main power sources fail to reach in commercial, industrial and military applications.

Clean, sustainable energy is of vital importance to America’s economic and environmental future. There is no doubt that PV is becoming a primary source of energy but only when integrated with long duration energy storage. Large-scale and affordable energy storage is required to develop the dependability, resiliency, and productivity of next-generation power grids. Energy storage empowers the storage and dispatch of electricity generated by renewable energy sources including solar and wind power.

Source: renewableenergyworld.com

Coupled Solar and Energy Storage Market to Grow to $2.8 Billion in 2018

Dominated by grid installations, this market segment will be a boon to energy storage producers but have only a modest impact on the solar market, Lux Research says

BOSTON, MA – September 10, 2013 – Corporates playing in the solar and energy storage sectors have long dreamt of combining the two complementary technologies to differentiate products and defend margins. This symbiotic match shows promise, yielding a $2.8 billion market over the next five years, according to Lux Research.

PR_Graphic_The_Combined_Market_for_Integrated_Solar_and_Storage_Will_Reach_2

Grid-tied solar installations will comprise 675 MW, or nearly 95% of the combined 711 MW market, while off-grid applications including telecom power claim the remaining 5%. While the off-grid market enjoys higher profit margins, the much larger addressable market for grid-tied systems means they dominate the solar and energy storage market.

“Developers are pushing packaged solar and storage systems in order to stand out as value-adding leaders, but not all benefit equally,” said Steven Minnihan, Lux Research Senior Analyst and a co-author of the report titled, “Batteries Included: Gauging Near-Term Prospect for Solar/Energy Storage Systems.” “Residential energy storage will see a boost adoption due to solar, but the addition of storage will barely move the needle for solar players, driving a paltry 1% increase in global PV sales.”

Assessing the emerging market for combined solar and energy storage, Lux Research analysts found that:

1. Residential applications dominate through 2018. As lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and overall storage arrays fall in price, residential systems will gain the most, growing to 382 MW in 2018. The light commercial segment will increase to 220 MW while heavy commercial/industrial systems lag, growing only to 73.3 MW.
2. Japan is the worldwide leader. Hit by high electricity prices and seeking alternative energy after the nuclear woes, Japan will install 381 MW of solar coupled with storage by 2018, leading all other markets by a wide margin. Germany will come in second at 94 MW, while the U.S. will be third at 75 MW.
3. Newfound storage policies may dramatically increase the market. This year, Germany set aside $67 million to subsidize solar-tied energy storage and the U.S. Senate introduced a program that could fund $7.5 billion worth of new storage projects, or about 7.5 GWh of capacity.

Source: Lux research
source: sunesia.com